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The Lonely Lonely Chameleon is different than everybody it knows- it’s has strange strange shapes and curvy curvy curves. Because of this it only has one friend who isn’t always around and can’t always relate. The Lonely Lonely Chameleon takes an adventure of a lifetime to discover what friendship is, what’s important and what isn’t and how to enjoy life no matter who you are and no matter where you live! A story for everyone to learn from and enjoy! Check out a few pictures from the book below and see for yourself!

Want to see what happens? Be sure to buy the book to find out all the details of The Lonely Lonely Chameleon and it’s adventures!

No one wants to be scared! But sometimes life can be scary! What do you do during those times when life is scary and you’re struggling? In this book is an honest, fair and understanding of being scared and how to be brave! Because even though life can be scary life can also be wonderful! Check out some of the pictures below!

Hey readers, this is the Groggy Groggy Iguana. Some of you may know me for my imporantant role in The Lonely Lonely Chameleon book. Here I am on page 17.

The Lonely Lonely asked me to review games for the site. I tend to play a pretty wide variety of games, just depends on what I feel like playing. Sidenote, I won’t review anything that I haven’t completed to my satisfaction (I wouldn’t review Mario Galaxy until I got 120 stars, but I’d review Mario Sunshine after getting all the non-blue coin stars). So for the time being, don’t expect reviews of brand new games as soon as they release. I will also try to avoid any spoilers, or at least mark them if I feel it’s vital to the review. First time reviewing a game like this, so bare with me if the format and such seems a bit odd.

I feel that games can be broken down into 5 main aspects: graphics, music, story, characters, and gameplay. Beyond that, these aspects are more or less important then others depending on the games and genre. For example, game play outweighs virtually EVERYTHING else in a game like Devil May Cry, but in most RPGs gameplay is tied with story and characters. Graphics tend to be the least important, the main exceptions are games where the art style is a big feature (Okami, Madworld, etc).

Anyway, being a big fan of the various Mario RPGs, Paper Mario Sticker Star seems like a perfect game to review first. But its actually a bit difficult to review. It has the Paper Mario name, but it’s a drastically different game than the previous Paper Mario games, so it’s difficult to judge as a separate entity.

Graphics – 7/10

If you’ve played the previous Paper Mario titles, you know what to expect here. As the name implies, the world of this game is made of paper. The original didn’t do that much with this outside of creatures being flat. Thousand Year Door kept the same premise while adding “paper transformations” (tube, plane, boat, and flat) for Mario. While I did enjoy the style of both games, they didn’t really take the paper aspect that far as other paper mario’s have in the past. The world map is essentially a pop-up book, and the levels themselves do a good job of maintaining that feeling.

From cardboard coins to pop-up style bushes that fall over when hit. Clouds hung up by string to bricks that break into paper and float away. Even the enemies fold themselves into cones to make themselves jump proof, some will come in stacks to make themselves tougher, some will even take a trick from Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door and roll themselves into a tube before running you over. The graphics themselves and the 3d aren’t the best on the system, but they are far from the worst.

Music – 9/10

The music here is great and fits the games style perfectly. From the main title screen to the ending credits, it’s full of catchy songs. Each level has music that fits its feel, while none of the songs get annoying. The song you’ll hear the most is the battle theme, which is personally one of my favorites in the game. Add a couple of nice touches to that like the world map’s music changed based on what environment you’re in or a boss that claps and attacks to the music and you get a 9/10 for the music.

Story – 3/10

My first and biggest complaint with the game. For those that don’t know, previous Paper Mario’s had an overarching storyline as well as stories contained in each of the games chapters. For this game, they downplayed the story pretty heavily. There is a brief story sequence at the start of the game and a bit more at the end of the game… and that’s it. There really isn’t anything more to the story then that. It’s a standard Mario story where Boswer did this and that, took Peach, and now you go collect this and that to stop him. With no story in-between, you’re left with a pretty underwhelming story that I can’t give better than a 3/10.

Characters – 4/10

This is where my biggest issue with the game is. Previous Paper Mario titles were FILLED with charm that came from the various NPCs/partners/enemies/Bowser throughout the game. In this game virtually all the NPCs are generic Toads. There are minor exceptions, but too far and few. Gone are the conversations from partners and bosses. In fact, most of the conversation in the game comes from your only partner Kersti, and even then they pale in comparison to those of the past games. Heck, Bowser doesn’t even have a single line in the game. Fortunately, the game does still have plenty of its own charm from things like enemy design (stuff like Mariachi Band Shyguys was awesome) and the way they use the games paper design, otherwise it would have gotten a lot lower score.

Gameplay – 7/10

Some of the gameplay elements have gotten a lot of flak from fans of the older games. In previous Paper Mario, you had turn based battles where your attacks came from a mix of badges and your partners (with experience points as a reward) while most puzzles in the environment were based on the abilities of your partners (which are not in this game).

In this game, battles are sticker based. Stickers are a 1 use per sticker, and every action you take in battle is based on your stickers. Stickers can be found wherever you look in the environment, from blocks, bought in shops, and won from battles. On top of that the game has a bunch of real world objects (known as “Things” in games) like baseball bats and bowling balls that you can turn into stickers. These “Things” tend to be incredibly strong and I personally recommend only using them on bosses to keep the game interesting.

You no longer gain experience points from battle, which has led to several people calling battles pointless because it’s viewed as nothing but a waste of stickers. Battles do drop stickers, and more importantly, coins. Coins are much more important than previous titles since your attack supply can be tied to them. At the end of each level the game rains coins on you, but the amount is determined by how many battles you fight in the level. Plus, battles tend to be a lot of fun, so they are far from pointless.

The game also introduces the Battle Spinner. Each turn in battle you can use some coins to spin roulette. Matching 2 wheels allows you to use 2 stickers in one turn and 3 wheels gives 3 turns with a bonus effect based on what picture was matched. You get more coins/stickers from a battle for a 1 turn win, so this is pretty helpful in later game battles.

Boss battles can be fought 2 ways. Each main boss has a “thing sticker” that when used does a huge chunk of damage and makes them weaker in some way (lower defense/attack, prevent a specific attack, etc). This isn’t a requirement though, as you can tough it out with regular stickers, making the battle much harder and the Battle Spinner VITAL.

Environment puzzles tend to be a simple matter of finding which “thing” is needed here or using Kersti’s only ability. Some levels do mix it up pretty well, like a level that emulates Luigi’s Mansion and requires you to find 100 Boo’s hiding in a mansion to move on.

Final Thoughts

Overall, Paper Mario Sticker Star is a good game and a lot of fun. Most of its biggest flaws are from comparing it to previous Paper Mario titles, although it does have a couple flaws on its own. I’ve decided to give this game 2 separate scores. One is the game as its own game; the other is a game as an entry in the Paper Mario series.

As a game on of its own, the game a blast, well worth playing through, but doesn’t really stand out as a top game of its genre, so I’m giving it a 7/10

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As an entry into the Paper Mario series this game losses a lot of the charm of the series from the loss of partners/characters and the bare-bones story. It’s still fun, but if you’re looking for a Paper Mario like the first 2 and nothing else, you’ll probably want to give this a pass. As a Paper Mario game, I’ll give this a 3/10.

I’m not going to lie. I am biased. That means I tend to lean towards Nintendo games. And it’s not because I don’t like the PS3, Xbox 360, or even computer gaming- because I love those too. It’s really just because none of them really make me feel as comfortable as a Nintendo system.

When I play Nintendo I know what kind of system I’m getting:

1. Something that is for everyone. New gamers, old gamers. Easy games, hard games, simple games, complex games. But above all entertaining for everyone. And all the time I hear that tired out argument, “Nintendo is just for kids. Adults play on real systems.” or “Nintendo just focuses on fun, they don’t make games for serious gamers”. So what if I’m a kid at heart? That doesn’t make me less of a chameleon. And I’m glad Nintendo just focuses on fun, because that’s what videogames are meant to be.

2. Something that is going to be quality. Say what you want about Nintendo and their games. But it’s hard to argue with their success. With the exception of the VirtualBoy- every gaming console Nintendo has made has been accomplished. To prove my point- if you’ve been around as long as I have (24 Chameleon Years) you’ll know that Sega was once as big as Nintendo but fizzled out because it’s company made bad money decisions. Meanwhile in a way Microsoft and Sony (Xbox 360 and PS3/PSPVita) have only been here for the last 10 years. Nintendo has been time tested with quality games and staff. (Though Sega will always have a place in my heart)

3. Fun. Nintendo knows how to make a fun game that you can just relax and enjoy. Now I know this goes back to my first point with people being all, “Yeah well they’re not serious games”. Let me tell you something. First off they’re all a lot of competitive Nintendo games. Whether or not you choose to acknowledge them is your own decision. Secondly, isn’t it more important to have fun than to win? Isn’t it more fun to just play with your friends than see who is the best? A lot less feelings have been hurt with Nintendo games than Call of Duty Modern Warfare. I’m sure.

I bet a lot of people wish they had as much fun as you did playing Nintendo as they did getting frustrated trying to be the best too. But my point is that Nintendo makes something that you can have a blast playing. It might be silly, whacky or “kiddish” at times but it’s bound to be good. Yeah, you might not like all their games but I bet there’s a few that you will love despite what kind of person you are.

With that in mind I thought I’d take a moment to review not a movie or a game but some Nintendo videogame systems.

The first I’d like to bring up to the podium is the Wii U. The Wii U is the sequel to the Nintendo Wii. In addition to having motion sensors like the Wii and upgraded graphics currently higher than even the PS3 the Wii U also has one other great feature. The wonderful touch pad. I know a lot of people were speculative about whether or not it just be another Dreamcast controller with a big screen in the middle and nothing to do with it. But trust me it’s way more than that.

Let’s say you’ve got a friend that wants to watch TV but you want to keep playing your Wii U game. Not a problem. Put the game on the Game pad! You and another friend want to play a game but you don’t want to both be hogging up the screen (I’m sure you know what kind of problem I’m talking about!). Hoila! One plays on the TV the other plays on the game pad. It takes a little getting used to admiringly but once you do I guarantee you’ll be hooked. You think that’s crazy? I’m just getting started!

Not only can you play your games on the controller you can even watch TV on the controller while someone else is watching another channel on the TV. That’s right! Even if you’re a mom, dad or guardian you can like the Wii U! You can watch cartoons while they watch the news! Or vis versa if your parents are kids at heart and you like pretending you’re old!

Not to mention you can browse the internet on it! You’ve basically got the power of a super smartphone. “But Chameleon! I already have a smart phone!” you say. But can your games play Super Mario Brothers Wii U? Warriors Orochi 3? Nintendo Land?! Sonic All Star Racing?!

And can it possibly run as smoothly as the Wii U? I have my doubts. The Wii U will surprise you if you give it the chance to. But don’t take my word on it. Take the fact the Wii U has sold over 3,000,000 of themselves. Did I mention how fun the message boards are for all the videogames so you can talk about your experiences with others?

Did I mention that you can other Wii U buddies on your Wii U and videochat? Did I mention that there’s a ton of awesome games that are coming out for it soon?

I could spend all this time to talk about the Wii U but I won’t. I could- but I’m not going to.

The 3DS also deserves high mention. Maybe you don’t like playing games on the television. Maybe you take lots of trips and need something to play on the go. Maybe you like videogames that are crazy crisp looking. Maybe you like 3D GAMES. Then maybe you should check out the 3DS. It might be harder for you youngin’s to understand an old Chameleon like me. But back in my day there wasn’t 3D movies. And there certainly weren’t 3D games. The best we had was things like Starfox that had 3 Dimensions.

To us older folks. This looks like a masterpiece. To the younger audience, this must look old- and frightening. So when the 3DS was announced it felt like someone announced that we finally were in the future. So where do I begin with the 3DS.

I guess I’d start with the visual quality of the games matching some games on the PS2, Wii and Xbox360. I’d also mention that a lot of the graphics are 3D which is super awesome. You can make Miis on it. You can play interactive reality games, take 3D pictures, send notes to friends, jump on the internet, play minigames with your Miis, watch nintendo TV. And I haven’t even mentioned any of the games!

At some point I would like to take the time to review all these in more detail but for now just take my word on it when I say that these are awesome. And much like the Wii U- there’s a ton of games that haven’t even come out. Like I mentioned in an earlier review- Pokemon X and Y. And if you like role-playing games- you have enough to look forward to.

Now even though I just went on a ramble about the Wii U + 3DS. I do that because Nintendo is dear to me. It’s always put kids first and since I myself am a kids book hero I can’t help but put them first too. But that isn’t to say that owning any other system is any less cool! This is just one Chameleon’s thoughts and if you take just one thing away from what I write, I hope it’s entertainment. But seriously- the Wii U and 3DS rock.

Still I’m going to review a bunch of other systems to be fair and talk them up too! Trust me I know they’ve got a lot of good things going for them too! I’m a reasonable reptile! So be sure to look forward to the next week when I introduce Grumpy Grumpy Iguana’s review of Paper Mario 3DS. It’ll certainly be a fresh perspective on reviews here.

(Sorry I didn’t get this out right away guys, I got sick a few days ago and still haven’t gotten completely over it. And to answer what you’re all wondering, yes, chameleons can catch the flu)

January 8th 6:00 AM was a special moment for me and the rest of the pokemon world

At 6 in the morning around the world, this trailer for the new pokemon came out. Now even though I am a well liked chameleon and have my connections- not even the craftiest of chameleons could have access to this videogame because it’s not even close to out. But I felt that the announcement was so awesome it deserved it’s own review.

This is going to be a short little review but I just wanted to bring up a few thoughts to think about! And before I get started, if you don’t like pokemon I would suggest not reading this because I am a full fledged pokemon master. And if you’re not one, that’s fine but you won’t like what I have to say about pokemon. Because I love everything about pokemon. Anyway! Here we go!

This is going to be in 3D!

Forget 3D glasses! We’re going to have all the pokemon in full 3D on the 3DS. As you may well know I usually don’t get caught up in gimmicks of graphics. But this- I take exception to because it’s something original. Pokemon were cool when you could barely tell what’s going on in the fighting, now you’ll be able to experience the whole thing in 3D! That’s 700 pokemon to look at in 3D! So cooooool!

Look at how cool the starters are!

Cancel all my plans Turtle! I need to figure out which starter I’m going to use when this game finally comes out. I seriously have never had such a hard time deciding which one is my favorite. At this point I’ve liked every single generation of starter that has come out, no lie. But never were all 3 so cool I couldn’t even decide between any of them. At this rate I’m going to have to play this game three times just to use all of them at one point. But then how do I decide which one to use first?! Man, sometimes life can be difficult.

Think about what new pokemon we’re going to get

Nintendo has already assured us at least 100 new pokemon. And so far all we know about is five of them. In other words, we only know at most 5% of the pokemon that are coming out! A lot of people have some working theories (that means possibilities) on some of the likely new 2 or 3 eevee evolutions. Hopefully they’re true because I for one could use a nice fighting and flying type evee. And if they look as good as the starters I’d say this could be one of the best generations yet!

Think about what new pokemon types we could get

Now if you’ve been following the pokemon world as well as me (if not better than I am) you’ll notice that out of the seventeen types of pokemon in the game out there, some combinations have yet to be used. I may be missing some but to the best of my ability, those types are:

Bug Dragon

Bug Dark

Bug Ground (Technically there is nincada but he is only temporarily a bug ground so I don’t count him)

Bug Ice

Bug Normal

Bug Psychic

Bug Water (Surskit doesn’t count also because it tuirns into bug flying)

Dark Electric

Dark Normal

Dark Psychic

Dragon Fighting

Dragon Grass

Dragon Normal

Dragon Poison

Dragon Rock

Electric Fighting

Electric Grass

Electric Ice

Electric Normal

Electric Poison

Electric Psychic

Electric Rock

Fighting Flying

Fighting Ghost

Fighting Ground

Fighting Ice

Fire Grass

Fire Ice

Fire Normal

Fire Poison

Fire Water

Ghost Normal

Ghost Psychic

Ghost Rock

Ground Normal

Ice Normal

Ice Poison

Ice Rock

Ice Steel

Normal Poison

Normal Steel

Poison Psychic

Poison Rock

Poison Steel

In other words there’s 44 pokemon unique types that haven’t even been made yet. So for all the haters out there, being all like, “Why is there more pokemon? Don’t you have enough” be like “There’s still 44 pokemon unique types that haven’t even been made yet!”

Of course, it’s very unlikely we’re going to see a fire water or a fire ice since those don’t really make sense. But then again, up until I saw Lanturn I never expected to see an electric water pokemon. What’s even crazier to me is that this thing is based on the real life “water electric” animal deep underwater!

There’s other types that are just too unlikely since they just have so many weaknesses like ice normal. But then again that’s never stopped pokemon has it Magcargo?

Think about the new moves we could get!

I mean in a way all the moves are new since we’ve never seen them before in 3D! But who knows how many new moves could actually be introduced in this game?! Some of you may be thinking I just want new moves so I can use them competitively. That’s not even close to why! I just like new moves because it helps out pokemon that don’t have any way of being used otherwise. Could you imagine using some pokemon before they were given decent move pools? Yeah, exactly. The possibilities are endless

What towns are we going to have?

Now as a lot of you probably know. Many people suspect that the new region is based off of Europe.

Conclusion

Long story short. This game looks awesome, and I’m already going to call it as becoming a classic. (Or at least I hope so). We don’t know practically anything about it, but I’ll be sure to write updates every now and then regarding the big updates. Tune in next week for the Wii U + 3DS review.